Dickey helps K-State women put away Texas

MANHATTAN — Throughout this season, the Kansas State women’s basketball team often has built a halftime lead only to see the opposing team find a way to get back into the game in the second period.

By the first second-half media timeout of Saturday’s 65-45 victory over the Texas Longhorns, K-State squashed any chance of that trend continuing.

“It was important for us to take that positive step forward,” K-State coach Deb Patterson said. “To not let all the work we did in the first half stretching that lead go to waste. Not to come out with a passive disposition.

“It’s been a while since we’ve really been in attack mode right from the get-go in the second 20 minutes.”

Tasha Dickey scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in keying a 15-2 run to start the half, building up a 20-point lead and ending any real chance at a competitive game as the Wildcats cruised.

Dickey knocked down a pair of 3s but was most dangerous in transition. She finished an efficient 8 of 16 from the floor on a night when teammate Brittany Chambers was struggling from behind the 3-point line.

“Tasha established early on in the game that she was going to be very accountable defensively,” Patterson said. “Her length and just her work ethic were absolutely huge. She’s playing terrific on the defensive end of the floor, and it’s carrying over to her decisions offensively.”

While Texas answered with a 9-0 run of its own later in the half, the Longhorns never threatened down the stretch, shooting just 31 percent for the game.

Not only did Texas struggle shooting the ball, but the Longhorns were often limited to just one opportunity as K-State outrebounded the Longhorns by a 43-30 margin.

Texas coach Gail Goestenkors wasn’t pleased with her team’s effort.

“I was proud of the run that we made,” she said. “We got aggressive and we did some nice things, but no, I’m not really pleased with the effort. I think effort shows on the defensive end and in rebounding, and we obviously got our tails kicked.”

Joining Dickey in double figures for K-State were Chambers with 15 points and Jalana Childs with 14.

Ashleigh Fontenette was the lone double-digit scorer for Texas with 10 points.

K-State used an 11-2 run midway through the first half to build its seven-point halftime lead. The Wildcats scored 24 of those points in the paint in the first half, finding seams in the Longhorn defense for easy layups.

Both teams had special pink uniforms as they participated in the ‘Play 4Kay’ initiative that supports the Kay Yow Cancer Fund while raising awareness for breast cancer. Several breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime, and most of the crowd was decked out in pink clothing.

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I was glad to see the team that started the season returning to the floor last night. No late meltdowns, no long second-half scoring droughts. They competed throughout the game and finished strong. Fast-paced game at times, and at times quite physical.